Trash Traps are a solution to enhance human and ecological health by removing plastics and other litter from our shared waterways. These floating filters are designed to capture litter in campus streams while allowing aquatic life to freely pass below.
The UGA Trash Trap on Trail Creek is a collaborative initative with Athens-Clarke County, Stormwater Systems, and the University of Georgia.
Most of the more than 8 million metric tons of plastic that enters the world’s oceans every year gets there from inland sources. Microplastics in our waterways, or small particles of plastic that persist in the environment, cause harm to humans and aquatic ecosystems. That plastic bottle – intentionally or unintentionally littered on the ground – often ends up in a natural waterway, shedding microplastic particles into our drinking water source. The University of Georgia strives to tackle this challenge through policy and practice, from conducting the Circularity Assessment Protocol in large urban areas around the globe to getting our feet wet emptying plastic bottles and other debris captured by Trash Traps in one campus stream at a time.
Litter left behind in landscapes and roadways on UGA’s main campus gets washed into storm drains when it rains, ending up in campus creeks and the N. Oconee River which ultimately flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Darien, GA. Trash Traps interrupt this cycle of polution, capturing human-induced litter so it can be removed and properly disposed before it becomes problematic downstream.
UGA’s Tanyard Creek Trash Trap serves as an ongoing research site, integrating litter reduction and water quality monitoring. Led by Dr. Franklin Leach and an interdisciplinary team of UGA students, this site is integrated into the Stream DAWGS Vertically Integrated Project for Research and provides valuable data to assess the health of our central campus waterway.
UGA’s Trail Creek Trash Trap is a valuable tool for general instruction coordinated by the Office of Sustainability, engaging classes from Art to Environmental Health, Business to Biology.
Students, faculty, and staff wade into the creeks; remove and weigh contents from the Trash Trap; sort, count, and record materials by type; and document collected litter in the Debris Tracker App.
Trash Traps serve as a visual reminder that there is no “away”. Items discarded in our environment remain in the environment unless someone intentionally removes them. Litter on land washes into our streams, affecting all species who depend on these valuable natural resources.
Plastic Bottles removed from campus waterways: 3,243
StyroFoam Fragments removed from campus waterways: 6,781
Pounds of materials removed from campus waterways: 1,094
Check back soon for more detailed data and trends over time…
Do you represent a UGA class or student organization who would like to help empty UGA’s Trail Creek Trash Trap?
Are you a concerned citizen who wants to do your part?
UGA’s Trash Traps began through a partnership with the Athens-Clarke County Sustainability Department, the University of Georgia, and Stormwater Systems. The Trail Creek Trash Trap was installed in February 2021, and the Tanyard Creek Trash Trap, near Bolton Dining Hall, was installed in August 2022.
The UGA Trash Trap and Litter Reduction Program is envisioned in 3 phases. We are currently in the midst of Phase 2.
Plastics… From Athens to the Atlantic – a short film created by Emerson Klump with Ava Hiller, Aisha Iyengar, and Veida Stringfield as their Sustainability Certificate Capstone Project.
The UGA River Basin Center (RBC) connects freshwater science to management and policy. Housed in the Odum School of Ecology, the RBC works across disciplines to produce and disseminate the knowledge and tools for sustainable management of aquatic resources and ecosystems through applied scientific and policy research, and by training the next generation of managers and researchers.
Introduction to Watersheds UGA teaching module for classrooms.
The Sustainability Certificate incorporates applied learning in interdisciplinary settings and equips students with critical skills to address global sustainability challenges through real-world solutions.
